In Marsí thin and dry atmosphere, dust devils are the equivalent of
Earthly lightning. And they, too, leave behind a record of their
passing burned into the soil.

Because Mars is a charged body orbiting within a
cell of plasma that surrounds the Sun (a stellar plasma sheath), an
electric current flows to the Martian surface. Marsí atmosphere,
like Earthís, acts as a
self-repairing capacitor, insulating the
surface until breakdown voltage is reached. Then the current flows
through the atmosphere to the surface, persisting until the electric
field strength becomes too weak to sustain the discharge.

In Marsí thin and dry atmosphere, these arcs take
the form of
giant vortexesómiles-high dust devils. The electric
currents powering these electric tornados burn the surface as they
pass over it, leaving the characteristic trail of
scorched soil.
The Mars Orbiter
Camera captured this birdís eye view of a dust devil burning its way
across the landscape and leaving behind a blackened path. (The
shadow of the dust devil lies to the right of it.) Many other dark
trails in the vicinity attest to the frequency of dust devils in
this area.